THE OOLOGIST. 



67 



chee," uttered iu the descenuiDg; scale, 

 with the third aud foitrth syUables ut- 

 tered in the same time as one other syl- 

 lable, aad both the same tone. Tliis is 

 a soug I have heard before, Init it is by 

 no means so common as the drov\sy 

 "ra-a a-y-chee-e-e,'" which can b3 heard 

 in the vicinity of almost any hillside 

 thicket ia April or May. 



As soon as the sun appears above the 

 horizon, the chorus of bird-song ceases 

 as if by magic. Two minutes later 

 hardl}^ a A'oice among the louder sing- 

 ers can be heard. The wiry voices of a 

 few Warblers, the soft whistling of the 

 Blue-wing and the sharp chipping soug 

 of another, which begins "chip-e-chip- 

 e-chip,'''' and ends in a medley of sharp 

 similar sounds, are almost the only 

 musical notes to be heard. 'J he caw- 

 ing of crows aud the harsh cries of 

 Jays become more blatanr, and seem 

 by contrast to emphasize the sileace. 



Leaving the hills and starting to- 

 wards home we pass through a piece of 

 woodland with no underbrusli used as 

 a pasture. Here are many Redstarts, 

 the Warbler with the chipping song 

 and a number of Bhick-throated, Blue 

 and Blackburniau Warblers are visible. 

 Black and White Creepers are abund- 

 ant, not creeping but moving through 

 the treetops like the Redstart-, often 

 uttering their wiry song From one of 

 the maples, the favorite tree of the 

 Summer Tanagers, comes the '■•j>eier- 

 2mt peie)'-2nit" of that species. 



In a small piece of woodland near by 

 almost level and covered with a dense 

 thicket in which the wild crab, goose- 

 berry aud grape mingle with black- 

 bex'ries and saplings, we hear a sound, 

 "chip-'' •■liip-it'" coming from the dead 

 limb ,.. ,1 beech. Use your opera glass- 

 es i ".> - Connecticuts, are they? I 

 saw liiv tirst last year not twenty feet 

 from here. A favorite place it seems. 

 1 never heard its note till now. 



But it's growing late aud judging by 

 the sensations under our vests it's time 

 to go home aud get breakfast. So we 



walk down the dirt road, where Diek- 

 cissels are siuging in the little locus-ts 

 along the fences aud the Orchard Ori- 

 oles are making music in the apple 

 trees and through the village, where 

 the mellow notes of the Baltimore con- 

 trast with the chattering of the English 

 Sparrow. Here is the street corner; I 

 go this way. Much obliged to you for 

 your company; will be glad to have you 

 go another time. Falco, 



Montgomery, Ohio. 



Notes on a Few Southern California 

 Birds. 



One of the most familiar of our birds 

 is the Arizona Hooded Oriole [Icterus 

 cucullatus nelsoni). There is scarcely a 

 country home in (;.outheru California 

 without its clump of Banana Trees or 

 at least one or more Fan Palms and it 

 is iu these trees that ''nehonV loves to 

 mske his beautiful pensile nest strongly 

 Avoven from the fibres of the Fan Palm. 

 Davie says this Oriole lays from three 

 to hve eggs, but iu an examination of 

 more than twenty sets, this season's 

 collecting, I have never found more 

 than three eggs and in four cases only 

 two. On May 1, 1897, I took a nest 

 and three eggs from a banana tree 

 standing in a deserted Chinese veo-e- 

 table garden. Just one month later I 

 took a second set from the same tree 

 and on the thirtieth of June 1 mitrht 

 have taken the third set had I been so 

 disposed. This experience brought me 

 to say that the bird will in all probabil- 

 ity raise at least three broods iu a. sea- 

 son if unmolested. The eggs are 

 creamy white, spotted and blotched 

 with brown and purple, varyino- in 

 shape from those looking at a distance 

 like a typical Cliff Swallow {Petroche- 

 lidon lunif7'ons) to those beai'ing a 

 strong resemblance to the egg of the 

 common Linnet [Carpodac^is mexicanus 

 frontalis). The measurements of there 

 typical eggs are .85x.G0, .95x.6G and 



